


Howlin' For You

by TheCarrot



Series: The Midnighter's [3]
Category: Midnight Texas (TV)
Genre: F/M, Familiars, Gen, Hellhounds, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, Minor Character Death, Sad with a Happy Ending, cat with an attitude, hurt!Manfred, kinda sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 07:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12338583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCarrot/pseuds/TheCarrot
Summary: “We will always look after Fiji.” Without a speck of hesitance Manfred reaches out and runs a hand along the cold outline of the cat. “Go to Mildred and rest.”A purring echoes in Manfred ears as Snuggly takes his last opportunity to leap onto the psychic’s lap. The cat curls up there, whiskers flared out in happiness.“I can’t wait to see my Mildred again... but, keep my Fiji safe.”





	Howlin' For You

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance for this one. It tugs a little on the heart-strings but I hope you enjoy.

Manfred stumbles out of bed; honestly stumbles when his leg gives out, and curses as he slides onto the floor. He stays there for a moment and rubs at the bandage on his thigh, wishing for his pill bottle thats still in his jacket in the kitchen. 

A noise outside his house draws his attention for a moment before he tries hauling himself to his feet. Hissing, he throws on yesterdays marginally clean clothes and limps into the kitchen. The psychic sends a thankful thought to Creek when he sees the full French press on the counter. It’s lukewarm now but he pours it into the mug, maybe adding a small splash of whiskey, and sighs happily downing a good portion of it in one go. 

The noise sounds again and Manfred can sort of make out Fiji’s voice in the early morning. Carefully he slips on his boots and, mug in hand, heads out across the street to see Fiji standing in front of her garden, eyes wet and looking around frantically. 

Manfred is immediately on alert as he comes up next to the witch. “Whats going on?”

Fiji sniffs, rubbing her eyes with her wool shawl. “It’s Mr. Snuggly...” She says voice cracking.

Its then that Bobo comes around the corner, his face crestfallen. “Nothing yet.”

If Manfred ever hears the sad hiccup Fiji lets out again, he’s sure that he’ll move heaven and earth in revenge for her. “Your cat’s missing?”

Fiji nods and Bobo takes a moment to pull her into his arms. “He went out last night, before dinner and hasn’t come back yet.” He explains.

Manfred grimaces, he’s been on the receiving end of threats from the cat when it was hungry so he’s well versed in how the Familiar is about missing meals. 

“Olivia’s got the car and is lookin’ around the city limits right now.” Bobo states. 

Fiji takes a deep breath and motions to the house behind her, “I’ve been staying here in case he comes back but-” she cuts off, raising a hand to her mouth. She knows how much Mr. Snuggly didn’t like her, but he had been by her side through so much, that being without him now... Fiji just wants to pick up the stubborn cat and hold him close until he bitches at her for a snack or something. 

Manfred lets his hand fall to her shoulder and wishes he had the mobility to go with Bobo and help. “Hey, uh-if you want I can stay here.” He offers, Fiji perking up and Manfred gives her a wry smile. “I can’t really do a lot of walking, but I can wait here for you, if you want to go out and look.”

The look on Fiji’s face is so grateful it’s making the psychic uncomfortable. “You don’t mind?” She asks, “I know you should be resting...after that ghost...”

Ever the caretaker Fiji is, Manfred thinks as he gives her shoulder a last squeeze and holding up his coffee mug. “I’ll stay on the front step and if I see him, I'll call you.” He knows doing nothing but waiting must have been killing Fiji.

The witch nods, game face on and Bobo takes her hand. “Thank you Manfred.” She whispers and the two set off down the road, steps hurried. 

With a tired sigh Manfred turns and manages to get his bad leg up the front steps of Fiji’s place, setting himself down heavily on the top step. 

Silence follows for a moment as Manfred rubs at his leg and sips at his cold coffee. He looks over the dusty roads, taking in the way Fiji and Bobo’s voices fade away and when he finally can’t hear them anymore he sighs again. “That was kind of a dick move. Disappearing like that.”

The corporeal cat next to him huffs and flicks his tail. “Ain’t gonna do her no good if I stuck around now was it?” Snuggly mutters, eyes locked on the psychic.

Manfred glares at the cat. “She’d have closure.” He’s had this conversation with a lot of ghosts in the past. Never with a cat mind you, but it still bothers him every time.

Snuggly eyes him dubiously and licks a transparent paw. “I’m a cat. Cats run off when they gonna go.” He rubs at one of his ears indifferently. “ ‘sides, I don’t like her anyways.”

The psychic raises an eyebrow and takes a longer draw on his coffee, he really should have added more whiskey…Manfred pauses. 

Something wasn’t adding up.

Then it hits him; and the psychic can’t help but smirk. 

“So, when did you start liking Fiji as much as Mildred?” 

Snuggly whips around and glares at the human sitting next to him. “Now whats got your brain all twisted up there?” 

Manfred just shakes his head. The sun is coming up higher and the temperature is steadily climbing, the heat sinking into his injured leg and sore back. The ghost last week had done a number on all of them, but his leg had suffered the worse of it at the expense of the rebar from the newly poured cement on a construction site on the outskirts of Dixie. 

If he can stand up against a three hundred year old ghost and get it to calm down by conning it into trying to move on, then glare of one witches familiar is nothing for him. “Come on, admit it. Somewhere along the line, you really did come to like Fiji.” 

The tabby cat flicks his tail and smoke billows out around its ghostly form as it gets to his feet and comes to sit beside Manfred. 

Theres a moment between the two. Dead and living, between human and cat, Psychic and Familiar. 

Snuggly sighs like it’s a world weight he’s carrying. “Ya’ll will take car of her right?” He places a paw lightly on Manfred’s injured leg and the cold is as soothing as the heat had been.

Manfred just gives the ghost a look that conveys just how dumb he thinks that questions was. “We will always look after Fiji.” Without a speck of hesitance Manfred reaches out and runs a hand along the cold outline of the cat. “Go to Mildred and rest.” 

A purring echoes in Manfred ears as Snuggly takes his last opportunity to leap onto the psychic’s lap. The cat curls up there, whiskers flared out in happiness.

“I can’t wait to see my Mildred again... but, keep my Fiji safe.” 

There’s a lump in Manfred’s throat he will likely never admit to but he nods, moving the coffee mug to his other hand so he can use his right arm to curl protectively over the small ghost on his lap, smiling down on it sadly. “Don’t worry, we will.” 

It’s not a big fan-fare, when a ghosts moves on. It’s form dissipates and the smoke clears away, leaving nothing behind. For the first time in a long time, Manfred wishes that he could have let Fiji and Mr. Snuggly see each other one last time.

“Oh.”

Manfred’s head shoots up in surprise and his eyes are wide when they land on Olivia standing out by the front gate. She looks tired, and sadness clouds her eyes as she stares at the empty space she saw the psychic talking to. 

“Is he-?” She starts to ask but can’t bring herself to finish. 

“He asked us to look after Fiji.” Manfred nods, trying for a smile, but failing. 

Olivia sighs heavily and makes her way over to the step as well, sitting in the vacant spot that Mr. Snuggly had left. “Do you normally see the animals too?” 

Manfred snorts into his coffee and shakes his head, “Sometimes, if they’re old enough, or powerful enough.” He explains, “I’ll tell Fiji when she comes back.” 

The blonde huffs and doesn’t move. She’ll be there for her friend too, as much as she hated the damned thing. “Asshole cat.”

—

Fiji cries when they tell her, but she lets them take her inside and make her tea. They listen as she tells them all about Mr. Snuggly, about her Aunt Mildred and how she was never able to tap into the cat as a familiar.

It takes a week, a week of constant visitors and dinners and random drop-bys, until Bobo realizes the silence is getting to his girlfriend. He can’t help but look to where Mr. Snuggly’s cat bed used to be, and he’s almost a little sad that he’s not going to trip over his food bowl in the middle of the night anymore. 

Tonight Joe and Chuy are helping Fiji out in the kitchen while Manfred lounges at the table, leg tucked safely under the table and beer in hand as he munches on the homemade crackers Chuy had brought with him. 

“Hows the leg?” Bobo chuckles as he takes the seat next to the psychic at the table. He notes that a fair portion of the crackers are gone and frowns, reaching out for some before Manfred eats them all. 

Manfred just shrugs nonchalantly, like he didn’t have to run half a mile on it yesterday after the goblin incident. He goes to eat another cracker but it gets slapped out of his hand by Fiji. 

“You’re going to ruin your dinner if you don’t stop, and no one else has gotten any yet.” The witch scolds and Manfred gives her a kicked puppy dog look. “The two Bobo just had don’t count.”

“But I’m hungry.” Manfred pouts.

“The pie is almost ready, you can wait.” 

Both Bobo and Manfred perk up at that and they exchange gleeful looks as Fiji retreats to the kitchen. 

Sure enough, Joe comes over moments later, two bowls in hand of steaming sweet potatoes and something Manfred’s never seen before but is going to be eating for the rest of his life if the way it smells is any indication. The angel chuckles as he sets down the bowls and snatches a cracker up for himself. “I ate the other bowl when Chuy was making them.” He confesses, Bobo and Manfred breaking up in laughter.

Bobo can see how the silence was killing Fiji, with him at the pawn shop most of the day, having the other Midnight’s over really helps the house feel less empty. 

“Alrighty!” Fiji shimmies up to the table, hands ladened down with the biggest Shepherds Pie Bobo’s ever seen. And he came from a large family too. 

Chuy is right behind her, wine and beer in his grasp and Bobo thinks he could really get used to this.

The five of them settle around the table, elbows bumping occasionally as they fill their plates and pour drinks and Fiji smiles through all of it.

But, as Manfred has come to expect, just like every fun thing in Midnight, they get interrupted just as he was about to eat. 

He’s three bites into Fiji’s mouth watering pie when he hears it and it’s so loud he jerks at the sharpness of it. It’s not a sound he’s ever heard before and the way it makes his heart ache, like the way something is begging for help, makes it even more foreign.

“Did anyone else hear that?” The psychic asks, noting everyone is looking at him in worry. They shake their head and Manfred sighs, looking at his pie remorsefully. 

The whining, almost like a high pitched howl, sounds again and Manfred has to full on wince this time. 

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” He shoves a big scoop of meat and potatoes into his mouth and gets to his feet shakily. As an after thought Manfred takes one more cracker and is heading for the exit, cry echoing in his head telling him where he needs to go. 

Fiji and Bobo exchange looks before glancing over at Joe and Chuy who are already putting their napkins on the table and getting up to follow after their friend. “This doesn’t sound good.” Fiji mutters, brows drawn together as they leave the house. 

“Manfred didn’t seem to worried.” Bobo says as he takes her hand when they hit the road. They quicken their pace to catch up with said psychic who is limping ahead of them. Chuy’s shining a flashlight none of them saw him take out and Joe is arguably concerned when Manfred leads them out past the Church and into the beginnings of the dessert. 

They don’t walk long, for which Manfred is grateful. The whinny sound in his ears is lower, but no less painful as he slows his pace, looking around for the source of the death cry. 

Manfred stops suddenly and the others behind him brace for an attack but Joe almost drops his knife when he sees the lone tear drop off of the younger mans cheek. 

“Manfred?” The angel reaches out for his friend but Manfred just takes a few more steps away; closer to a large clump of rocks and Joe winces as Manfred falls to his knees when he reaches the other side of it. 

Bobo, Fiji, Chuy and Joe all come up behind the kneeling psychic and the collective gasp they let out gets sucked into the inky black night. There, hidden between the out cropping of rocks, is a dog. A large dog, colour so black it’s hard to distinguish between it’s fur and the night sky. What the black fur doesn’t hide are the large gashes and holes littering the dogs body. Or the fact that the dog has two heads and a spilt tail. 

Manfred swallows the lump in his throat when he sees the small pup, maybe the size of both of his hands, curled up and shivering between the dead heads of it’s mother. 

“Oh!” Fiji’s cry of shock is louder in the dessert as she barrels forward, collapsing next to Manfred and whipping off her woollen shawl. She reaches out for the puppy and carefully swaddles it in the warm wool, heart soaring at the sight of four tiny red eyes cracking open to look at her. “You poor thing.” 

"Th-that's a hellhound..." Joe states staring wide eyed at the puppy Fiji is cradling in her shawl. Next to him Chuy is grinning so widely at the puppy Bobo thinks his face could split. The half demon raises a hand and gives one of the heads a quick rub, watching as it nuzzles into his hand. 

"He's adorable." Fiji counters Joe’s statement and Bobo can’t help but think that maybe Fiji’s smile might even be bigger than Chuy’s. He looks at his girlfriend with a soft smile, loving how happy she looks in that moment.

"He?" Bobo asks as he helps Fiji to her feet so he can get a good look at the puppy too.

Fiji shrugs, not sure how she could tell. But she could. Theres a fire burning in her chest as she holds the Hellhound puppy closer. A spark; a connection. Something she’s been missing since Mr. Snuggly had gone.

Manfred however, isn’t looking at the puppy, he’s glad it’s safe, but his eyes linger on the open air above the dead Hellhounds body. With as little movement on his bad leg as he can manage, Manfred picks up both of the hounds heads and let them come to a rest on his lap. Black smoke curls up around the still form and the gypsy watches as four cracked red eyes open in the apparition and Manfred feels the dead weight on his lap like an anchor. Closing his own eyes, Manfred places a hand on each of the dogs head and under his breath whispers a prayer that Xlyda had thought him. An old gypsy charm for safe travel. 

Bobo sees what the younger man is doing and crouches down next to him, “Should we bury her?” He asks quietly. “Maybe the Rev can find a spot for her?" 

Manfred quirks a lip at his friends kind offer, eyes opening in time to see even the ghost looking at the other man with a soft fondness. "There's no need, she'll disappear in a few minutes." He explains and the others look at him in surprise. "She’s still here...she just needed to make sure her little guy was going to be okay first." Manfred nods at the puppy curled in Fijis arms before meeting the Dead Hellhounds eyes once more. "Don't worry, if anyone's going to take good care of him, it's going to be Fiji." 

The ghostly dog eyes him skeptically before looking at Bobo and Manfred can't help his eye roll, “Yes, they both will…what is with you animals…” He can't believe he's talking to a dog... the same way he once spoke to a cat.

The hellhound mother woofs once and the ghostly red eyes disappear as her apparition fades. 

Bobo flinches back a bit as the dead hellhound starts to crumble where it lays, it’s body turning to ash right in front of them. Her split tail is the first to go, next her back paws and then the front until the last thing, her heads on Manfred’s lap. 

Manfred smiles down at her softly and gives her one last scratch behind the ears before she fully disintegrates, even her ghost gone. The wind around them picks up momentarily, blowing away any remains that linger.

Joe lets out a small 'huh' sound as Chuy grabs his arm in excitement. "It's been what, over 500 years? This is amazing." The half demon grins widely. 

Joe just nods and pats his husband on the hand thats holding him. "Well, leave it to Fiji." He can’t help but run a hand through his hair in disbelief. 

Fiji looks between the two men in confusion, “Wha? What are you two talking about?"

The angel points at the puppy who yawns with both mouths and looks up at him flatly. "You just received a familiar Fiji...of a Hellhound."

Theres a quick intake of breath from Fiji. "I-i..." She actually has no idea what to say. She just knows that the way the puppy feels warm against her, feels right. It makes her feel the way Bobo does when he hugs her, warm, safe, protected...powerful. 

Bobo slides over to Fiji, eyeing the puppy's two heads with fascination and delight, having to reach out and touch them. "A Hellhound as a familiar eh?" He smiles at his witch. "You always were more of a dog person."

Fiji laughs as the puppy nips playfully at Bobo’s finger he had been using to pet one of its heads. She feels beyond giddy.

"It'll be good for Fiji too." Chuy chuckles as his husband reaches down to help Manfred back to his feet, none of them missing the wince of pain as he moves.

"How so?" Bobo asks.

"Hellhound are the guard dogs to Hell. Nothing gets in or out of hell unless they say so." Joe replies dusting off Manfred’s jacket. "No better protector against anything coming for you."

"When it grows up a little more anyway." Manfred muses getting his first good look at the puppy.

"No, even the puppies will rip your throats out." Chuy laughs at the appalled look on his friends faces.

Fiji laugh is the one they’re used too; light and airy...happy. They're all glad to hear it again. She turns and starts back towards town, Bobo and Chuy falling into step behind her. 

Joe pauses however, when Manfred doesn't immediately follow them. "What is it?" The angel asks carefully, not liking the distant look in the psychics eyes.

Manfred shrugs, not sure how to put into words how he can still hear the mother hell hounds cry for help in his head. How he knows he’ll be hearing it for weeks yet to come. The same way he’s been hearing an echo of Snuggly’s southern drawl. So Manfred shrugs and just says "just the usual." Before he follows after his friends and back to his plate of cold shepherds pie.

\--

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are Life, good or bad :)


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